Gearing mechanism



- J. P. MADDEN GEARING MECHANISM Filed March 6, 1926 Z7 l4 YINVENTOR James R M m f/0.

ATTORNEYS Patented OctQZ, 1928.

. NITE ST TES JAMES P. mapnnltpr BETHL EM; PENNSYLVANIA, Assienon v a, "STEEL COMPANY.

PATE T 'oF FicE ;if;

enazame magma.

; Application menarche,

, 'My invention relates to gearing of the unidirectional power-transmitting type, and more particularlyto gearing Which may be connected or disconnected by" lateral move-' s -ment of one of its members, and it has for.

its object to relieve teeth of one or more of the gearsat the idle sides thereof and towardv the tips'in order to facilitate meshing.

In connection with auxiliary propulsion mo torsor engines for use in connection with locomotives, itiis'desirable to provide gearing mechanismof'some kind so that the/auxiliary motoror engine may be connected or. disconnected with'respect to a load-bearing axle. Owing to limitations of space and to I simplicity of design, tumbler gearin'g' has been used quite extensively for this purpose, the ordinarygear train including a driving gear carried by the motor or engine shaft,

a tumbler gear constantly vmeshing with the a driving gear and movable laterally with resp'ect to the driven'gear carried by the load) bearing axle in order that it may be meshed ordemeshed with: respect to the latter gear.

Thetumbler gear or pinion may be moved laterally by any suitable means, that is, it may move into mesh with the driven gear wholly in consequence of the auxiliary propulsion motor engine being energized, or, it may move into'mesh dueto any suitable mo- ,t'or device, such as'an air or steamcylinder.

Gearing of this type is ordinarily so designed an'darranjg'ed that, after the tumbler gear is meshed with the driven gear, the directions of rotation are such that the tumbler gear is forcibly maintained in mesh with the driven gear. Since'the tumbler gear is mov able laterally into mesh with thegdriven gear,' it is: desirable that the teeth thereof 40 shallgo into mesh between the teeth of'the driven gear as easily aspossible. The latter result is particularlydesirable in view of the fact that the kinetic energy of the tumbler may be considerable while the tumbler gear is movingin a meshing direction. In

order to facilitate meshing of the ,"tumble'rgear withfthe driven gear, to avoid tip clashing of theteeth of these gears as much as possible and to render the gearing more durable and certain in so far as meshing is concerned, I provide the teeth of the tumbler 1926.;Sefi5 m m. 1

To I BETHLEHE and driven or axle gears with their idle 61%.

non-powertransmitting' side s' relieved to- Ward the tips thereof. This providesffor' wide spaces toward the tips of the teeth; and the surfaces at the relieved sidesj are preferably socurved as to facilitate mesh-I mg. Accordlngly, therefore, it is the: object of my inventionto relievethefidle sides "of gear teeth toward the tips thereof in order to faclhtate meshing'of a "pair-of gears including a laterally movable 'gea r.v Q

Apparatus made in accordance With, my' in;

vention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this application, in wh ch:

Fig.1 is a view of my improvement; an 3 I Fig. 2 is an enlarged 'detaiTfragmentary View of driven gear teeth. 3 i In Fig. 1, I sho wfa driving gearfIO adapted to'be secured to any suitable drivmg shaftlLjfor example, the crank shaft or driven-"shaftof a motor or engine; The tumbler gear or pinion 12 is preferably car} ried by apiyoted frame 13 and is'maintained, constantly m inesh with the drivi'ng'ge'ar" '10; The tumbler gear 12 is adapted to move to meshed and demeshed positions with ,respect to the driven gear 143, the latter being carried by' any suitable driven shaft or'memgearing incorporating ber 15, for example," a load bearing axle of a railway vehicle,

The tumbler gear12 maybe moved ina'ny suitable manner in -orde'r that it be meshed with theldrivengear 14c, and it will be noted that the'ldirections ofrotationf are such that, afterthe tumblergear is'me'shed with the driven gear such tumbler gear will be forcibly mamtamed in mesh with the" driven gear; I It will also be" apparent t ha t,

assuming the driving gear 10 to coine'fto a stop and the axle gear to continue to rotate, the axle gear will tend to kick the idler or tumbler ear 12 out of mesh therewithij the driven gear, respectively, p are relieved Referring to the clrivingigear 10., it will.

be noted that the teetlr-l ti tliereof are ,off a symmetrical or standard.outline while the teeth 17 and 18 of the-tumbler gear anaeri ng'of the tumbler 'gear 12 withithe driven a gear 14. Referring to the meshing relation of the tumbler gear 12 and the driven gear 14, it will be seen-that the teeth 17 of the tumbler gear are slightly rounded, at 1 9,

n at the rearward or non-power-transmitting surfaces of such teeth while the teeth 18 of the driven gear 14 are relieved at the form or surfaces thereof, the relief" being indicated generally at 20. Sincethe HF rearward surfaces of the teeth 17 are the surfaces which receive power 'from the driv in gear 10, it is desirable that the rounding, indicated at 19, shall not be so greatas to interfere with goodaction between the driv- '.-a mg lgear 1O and tll'e. tumbler gear 12.

e teeth 16 have symmetrical dedendum and addendum portions 21 and 22; theteeth l'l fhaving symmetrical dedendum portions 23 and addendum portions 24, which are symmetrical exce t for tip portions 25 each rounding or curving of the faces at 19" V net'being sufiicient to disturb the conjugate relaticn to asnbstantial degree. Referring t6 e-driven gear teeth 18, the rearward flanks 3% and the rearward faces thereof 1 normal outline and are conjugate to ar g as the orward faces and flanks 32 and 33 of thateethl'l. As, already pointed out, the teeth 18 are, rounded at the forward sides thereof nerally as indicated at 20; and iimifi flbthis rounding or relief is effect- 4o 7 edjbyhavin the forward faces 36 extending the p tch circle 37 toethe addendum 7 circle 38 inclined rearwardly to a greater extent than the forward inclination of the reel'fiaid faces 35, thevflanks 39 at the for- V ward sidesof the teeth 18 preferably defin ing, with the rearward flanks 34, symmetrical; endum portions 26; As shown on the drawings, the forward faces 36 preferably are 'cnrvedrearwardly from the pitch circle n0 to meet or to intersect the rearward,

faces 35, atthe addendum circle 38.- Itwill,

tligrefere, be seen that the driven gear teeth 18 are relievedin such a manner at the idle or fblward sides thereof and the jtumbler I as gear teeth 17 are relieved in such a manner at theidle or rearward sides thereof with respectto the driven gear teeth 18 that meshr thejteeth17 with the teeth is readily come into true abutting relation and Qtlierefalwajg: being a tendency, with the design of tee, .showmforthe teeth 17 to enter the spaces 'b'etweenthe'teeth 18, the rounded to portions 19'of the teeth 17 and the curved placewithoutsubstantial clashing, it j no not being possible for the endsor tips of the faces 36 cooperating to produce this easy meshing. 7

While I have shown and described my invention particularly in connection with a systemof tumbler gearing, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art thatit is equally applicable to any situation where a pair of gears is used and one ofthe gears is-shi-ftable in'the plane ofthe other to connect and to disconnect the pair. Also, in some cases, it may be found that'the small amount of relief of the tip portion of the movable gear may be unnecessary, the relief of the driven gear teetlrat the forward or idle sides therer of contributingprincipally to the easy meshm 7 I v 1 a While I'have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various other changes andmodifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire, therefore,'that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are spe- I cifically set forth in the appended claims. Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and sesire to secure by Letters Patent isz l p 771. In uni-directional, power-transmitting gearing, the combination of a driven gear having teeth with s mmetrical dedendum". and non-symmetrica addendum portions and a gear having symmetrical teeth movable laterally of the driven gear tomeshed and demeshed positions with respect to the latter, said gears having teeth adapted toVintermesh and the idle faces of the teeth of the driven gear being relievedfrom thep'itch circle to the tips in order to facilitate lncslrv ing of the laterally movable gear therewith 2. Ingearingmechanism, the combination of; a driving gear, a driven gear, and a turn bl'er gear constantly meshing with thefdriving gear and movable to mesh and demeshed positions with respect to the driven gear, the teeth of the driving gear beingisymmetrical and the teeth of the tumbler gear being symmetrical except for outer parts thereoiwhile' the teeth of thedrivenjgear are,non-symmet-' ricahwhereby the tumbler gear teethmay be readily meshed with the driven gear teeth,' andfthe rearwardfaces and flanks of the driven gear teeth being. conjugate to the forward faces and flanks of the tumbler gear teeth whereby power may be efiicientlyv trans- 12o mitted from the tumbler gear to the'driven" gearfl V 3; In gearingfmechanism, the combination of a driving gear, a driven gear, and a tumbler gear constantly meshing with the driv-f 7 ing gear and movable bodily to meshed and: demeshed positions with respect ,to the driven gear, the teeth' of the driving and a tumbler gears having symmetrical "addendum and" dedendum' portions except roeouter parts of thededendum portions of the tips thereof and the rearward surfaces of v tumbler gear teeth While the teeth of the the driven gear teeth being conjugate to the driven gear have symmetrical dedendum' forward surfaces of the tumbler gear teeth. 10 portions and non-symmetrical addendum i Intestimony whereof I hereunto aflix my 5 portions, the non-symmetrical addendum 'signature this 19th day of February, 1926.

portions being provided by relief of the driven gear teeth from the pitch circle to the JAMES P. MADDEN. I 

